Epoxy resins are an important class of derivatives of epichlorohydrin. Nowadays, almost 90% of the world production of epoxy resins is based on the reaction between Bisphenol A (2,2-bis(4′-hydroxyphenyl)propane) and epichlorohydrin. Health issues have recently been raised linked to the estrogenic properties of Bisphenol A which might be released in epoxy resins derived articles due to polymer decay with time.
International application WO 2008/147473 discloses a process for the preparation of isosorbide diglycidyl ether as substitute to Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (DGEBA), by reacting isosorbide with epichlorohydrin. Such a compound and derived products may however contain impurities which may render them unsuitable for certain applications. Those impurities can remain in the final products and possibly degrade with a concomitant deterioration of the properties of the final products. They can exhibit or degrade in compounds exhibiting some toxicity leading to safety issues especially when the final products are intended to be in contact with food and drink. Moreover, they can accumulate in and contaminate industrial process waters such as wastewaters for instance.
The goal of the present invention is to solve those problems by providing a new derivative of epichlorohydrin suitable in all known applications.